African American Autobiography

Catalog description

This course is an introduction to textual analysis through the study of African American autobiography, from slave narratives such as Frederick Douglass's 1845 Narrative, to late twentieth century memoirs such as Audre Lorde's Zami and Barack Obama's Dreams from My Father. Students will investigate "African American" as a category for literary criticism and engage how the genre has both contested racist oppression from slavery to the present day and responded to the pressures of representing race. Students will further examine the styles and structures of self-expression within black-authored memoirs and what effect such texts have on understandings of race in historical and literary contexts. Students are urged to develop critical, academic language that both speaks and acts to address racism. This course will also support students' development of skills as literary scholars to embolden them to read actively, write probingly, and act courageously.